Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, was just announced some 24 hours ago, and already the Android community has it up and running on several Galaxy Nexus models. So you say you want to give it a go for yourself? Here’s what you need to know:

Keep in mind that when doing these kinds of things, you risk breaking your phone. And information is constantly updating, so be sure to refer back to the original source before flashing anything. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, if you have a GSM Galaxy Nexus, it’s as simple as flashing a couple files in ClockWork Mod.

For the first method, there’s the actual ROM file, a root fix and a ClockWork flashable radio, all found in this XDA post. Once you flash all three, you should be running a fully rooted stock Galaxy Nexus set to take on your GSM network of choice. Problems with the build have been minimal (from what I can tell), but this is still a developer preview. The full Jelly Bean experience will be available in mid-July, and there may be some minor adjustments.

The second GSM method (and the one I will probably be trying myself sometime this evening) uses a highly customized flashable ROM from Paul O’Brien, AKA MoDaCo. Paul’s method is incredibly simple. From his post:

Download the zip file of your choice from the XDA thread (or the online kitchen) and copy to your the internal sd card (/sdcard/)

Restart your device in recovery mode

PERFORM A NANDROID BACKUP FROM THE MENU

Select the option to apply an update zip, and select the zip file you copied to the internal sd card!

Verizon Galaxy Nexus owners, consider yourselves very luck. Even though the original update was released for the “takju” developer/Google Play Galaxy Nexus, some developers over on RootzWiki have reworked the update into a ClockWork flashable file that works with 4G LTE. In fact, you even have a choice. Both TeamLiquid and TeamVanir have Jelly Bean builds to mess around with.

If you don’t feel like messing around with rooting, hacking and modding, don’t worry. The update is only two weeks away at this point. At least for GSM users that is. CDMA users, you’re used to waiting anyway, right?

If you plan on flashing Jelly Bean to your Galaxy Nexus, or if you already have, be sure to share you experiences below. I’ll let you guys know what I think should I end up taking the dive myself.

Most Tweeted This Week

I’ve been running this since early this morning. I LOVE it! It’s considerably smoother than ICS was, not that ICS was crap or anything!

Love the camera features and LOVE Google Now (although I’m still learning how to learn it better things).

http://www.jaxidian.org/update/ jaxidian

FYI, for those running earlier builds of the VZW version, be sure to get the Franco kernel (at least R200) installed on there. It makes a HUGE difference for quite a few things! Some of the newer builds have Franco already included.

sonicxml

Just a heads up, being a dev on TeamVanir the name of the team is TeamVanir – VanirBean is just the rom name

http://www.technogasms.com Sean Riley

Duly noted and fixed, thanks for the heads up.

sonicxml

Thanks for fixing it!

Dustin Earley

Gotcha. I will remember that for next time.

http://goo.gl/tQ2E wwJOSHdo

There is a rom for this for the Sprint version as well! (It’s on XDA too)

redraider133

And this is the reason people get so excited over a nexus. Now hopefully they can port it to other devices and get all the bugs worked out quickly.

Bryan

Been using the TeamLiquid version since this morning. Fast and stable! V2 fixed the wifi bug for me, and I had been using Franco kernel on v1 as well.

Bryan Stoner

Bryan, this is Bryan. I recommend Popcorn Kernel.

Bryan Stoner

As soon as I got home from work I created a nandroid and flashed vanir’s version. I have to say all the improvements are very welcome. The subtle animation changes here and there are awesome, especially the lockscreen! Google Now looks extremely impressive as well.

http://www.polarpattern.com Bryan

The animation in the camera app is especially cool.

E-man

I’m on a Verizon Galaxy Nexus and I know I’ll be waiting a long time for an official update :(.

http://www.baldypal.com Adam Jones

if at all? Verizon just, i mean JUST, released 4.0.4, why would they do Jelly Bean anytime soon. I hate the idea of unlocking to just wipe everything, starting over, rooting, potentially bricking, and my phone is more than a luxury me to me because i don’t have a home phone and it’s for business use. but i am seriously considering all that to get me some Jelly Bean.

Anybody got a video of JB working with LTE on the verizon GNExus?

Ryan

You’re right to a certain extent, but I’m not sure it’s going to be as long this time for VZ GNex owners. This last build that took FOREVER to pass VZ certification included new baseband software right? Unless this one does as well… if we’re lucky… we’ll get it by December.

DragonPhyre

The reason that 4.0.4 took so long was those baseband/radio updates. They had to test and re-test and re-re-re-test those radios as they are pushing the 4G network HARD and that is what they were testing for reliability. From what I hear, they load a special version of the ROM on the phone and then they put it in special cars/trucks and they drive around with them to make sure that the radios handle the tradeoffs between towers as well as dealing with congestion on the network.

This is why it takes so long for VZW. AFAIK, AT&T doesn’t actually test with actual devices–they just have a truck that uses a generic radio in it and they drive around with an antenna on the outside and ‘test’ that way… Hence the ‘more bars in more places’ tagline as they have data that proves they have more bars because that is all they are testing for. VZW says the biggest and more reliable network because they test with more than just a single radio/device so they can say that it is more reliable because they have data across many devices and they can show it.

Honestly, I think that 4.1 is going to come out faster than 4.0.4 did. But the clock starts now…

Nate B.

The phone feels brand new I can tell you that. Everything is so smooth and fast. I love the new animations. For a .1 update, it seem to be a pretty big difference in a user experience point of view. Not that I was falling out of love with Android, but this makes me fall in love with it again. It’s like a reminder why Android is so fun. Google is awesome. I loved and enjoyed the entire I/O. I hope they keep putting neat and improving on what they already have from the Google Play Store. Devices strait from them will be awesome.

JayB95

I’m running the TeamVanir one right now and its awesome. Very very very fast.

zedklind

I’m glad I ditched that g2x! I was able to flash koush’s Rom right on top of my 4.0.4 GSM play nexus without a wipe without any problems. Works great. There’s a root method too to get root. Super easy and smooth at buttter

Brian Campbell

As much as I would love to just root my VZW version of my Galaxy Nexus, I’m not confident enough to be able to do it (plus I have a Chromebook, so not easy in the first place). I think I’ll just wait for the official update from Verizon…I hope it’s not another 5 fraking months!

Bryan Stoner

Hey! Maybe you can borrow a friend’s windows machine for a few minutes~?? There’s a cool tool kit that uses some cmd scripts to root + install recovery. Quick and simple. After that you can use your chrometop to download some roms!

Does anyone know if it’s possible to update the GSM galaxy nexus to 4.1 without rooting?

Dustin Earley

Theoretically, if you were running the right build, you would have already received the update. I/O Galaxy Nexuses got it over the air.

Jim Nutt

I flashed the Liquid build this afternoon, must say I’m liking it very much. And Google Now is very impressive. My wife is a bit annoyed that her Razr Maxx won’t run it.. :)

Darshan Computing, LLC

You need an unlocked bootloader, but you don’t need to be rooted. I’ve been running 4.1 on my international GSM GNex since last night, with absolutely no problems — at least none that I’ve noticed yet, with a quite a bit of usage. Project Butter really did make some very noticeable improvements to speed and smoothness.

I unlocked, rooted, and installed the Jellybean ROM and now my phone has been booting for over 30mins. I’m not sure if I should pull the battery or let it keep going. Any advice?

Maximus

The most likely cause of the endless boot is you may have forgotten to Wipe Data

Start over

Hopefully you made a NAND and can restore it .Afterwards Power down, reboot int recovery wipe date/cache then install the JB Zip file make sure its in the DIRECTORY and not in any folders

If you want to keep root, flash the CW SU Zip afterwards before rebooting the phone

Hope this helps

nate2884

mine is also doing this and i know that i wiped the data. any luck on starting the process over again?

Alex Belko

damn now I want cyanogenmod based on JB

A.Woodbury

So true, after the wait for CM9, now we have to wait even longer for the next iteration. Things just keep getting better!

dVyper

I still wont believe it’s smoother until i see it with my own eyes…

kazahani

I’m with you! ICS is so smooth already…

apo

Yeah I was like both of you before I installed it and I have to say its really really smooth just install it already and see for yourself you really won’t believe it!
Personally I can’t go back to ICS and I don’t why I would do that because jb is really stable .
Wow even the keyboard is better I typed this in less than 40 seconds

kazahani

I’m a salesman, not a developer. I would love to root and flash and all that, but I am really not confident in my ability to safely do this. Anyone who’s ever tried to explain how easy it is has used a bunch of jargon that I don’t understand. I’m a smart person, I just don’t know any of the technical terms. Is there a “Rooting for Dummies” guide somewhere that would hold my hand and talk gently to me?

oreo

Actually its easier to root the galaxy Nexus than any other phone. In fact there are easy to use root tool kits.

Joel

Grats to GN owners, Im truly happy for you.
Feeling a bit let down this time around though, GS2 for tmo and att got ICS pushed….still nuthing for Sprint – cmon….really? Reading this article is bittersweet for me :-/

inviolable

Could someone kindly tell me if they [Google] reintroduced the ability to separate ringtone and notification volumes, circa pre-ICS?

@stezozz

what do you mean? I can still do this on ICS…

@stezozz

never mind

Maximus

JB is as smooth as Butter

No pun :)

Maximus

Goggle Now is awesome as well the UI just feels even more polished than ICS which was a big step up for the platform

Good job Google

Kimbo

You left out something key in the instructions above – perform a wipe! Several people have been having issues because they didn’t do this. IMHO you should always do this when switching between ROMs.

I’ve been running JB since yesterday, and it’s smooth. And the UI changes are gorgeous. I love the notification drawer.

Carey

Does anyone know if JB addresses the mic MUTE problem?
Is there any new information about the mute problem or a fix for it?
I was disappointed that 4.0.4 didn’t fix the problem after VZ tech support repeatedly said it would.
Cheers,
-=Carey

pjamies

Just updated a Telus Nexus S to 4.1 (JB).
Maybe it is just me, but I am not feeling the Buttery smooth transitions I was
expecting to feel. It actually seems like it did before the update. I have not had time
to play with Google Now, so I cannot comment on that yet ..
I just hope a couple of re-boots makes it feel like butter .. lol

Persefone

How do you update your Galaxy Nexus to JB? It’s 8-8-12 and the OTA hasn’t blessed me :(

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